Fire-protector for moving-picture machines.



A. L. GLBAVER.

FIRE PROTECTOR FOR MOVING PICTURE MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED APR.27.1914.

1, 1 21,477. Patented Dec. 15, 1914.

' 2 SHEETSSHBET l.

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APPLICATION FILED APR.27,1914.

1, 1 21,477. Patented Dec. 15, 1914.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

A TTOR/VEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR LESTER CLEAVER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FIRE-PROTECTOR FOR MOVING-PICTURE MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 15, 1914.

Application filed April 27, 1914. Serial No. 834,6 6.

clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to moving picture apparatus and has particular reference to safety appliances therefor.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide a casing surrounding the film in front of the projector, said casing being provided with shutters at the front and rear and top and bottom adapted to immediately close and seal the casing in the event of the ignition of the film within the casing,

means being provided within the casing to automatically release the shutters and confine the fire within the casing so as to cause the least amount of damage to the film and prevent the spread of the fire beyond the casing. y

A further object of the invention is to provide a safety fire protector for moving picture machine films, the nature and operation of which are such that the operator of a machine equipped with this improvement cannot operate his machine, through carelessness or otherwise, without the safety appliance being arranged and set for the automatic operation for which itis designed.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will hereinafter be more fully set forth and claimed and illustrated in'the drawings forming a part of this specification in which like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views, and in which i Figure 1 is a perspective view of a standard type of moving picture machine equipped with my improvement; Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the casing above referred to, looking toward the front or in the direction of the projection of light; Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a transverse section on the line 44 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the upper end of the casing, the view being similar to Fig. 3 but on a larger scale; and Fig. 6 is a perspective de tail of the locking and actuating mechanisms.

The several parts of the device may be made of any suitable materials, and the rela tive sizes and proportions, as well as the general design of the mechanism, may bevaried to a considerable extent without departing from the spirit of the invention hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

Referring more particularly to the draw ings, I show at 10 a moving picture machine having upper and lower reels 11 and 12, the

film being indicated at 13 leading downwardly from the upper reel through a casing 14 to the lower reel crossing the line of light projection from the lantern indicated at 15.

The casing 14 is substantially rectangular in form and has a front vertical wall 16 having a window 16. The casing has a rear Wall 17 constituting a part of a door structure adapted to open rearwardly on a vertical hinge 17 as indicated especially in Fig. 1 in dotted lines. This rear wall 17 has a window 17 in alinement with the front window 16. The film 13 passes downwardly through a slot 18 in the top of the casing between the front and rear windows and outwardly through a slot 19 in the bottom of the casing, the slots 18 and 19 being comparatively close to the front wall 16.

At 20 I show a shaft journaled vertically in the casing adjacent one side thereof and one or more springs 21 shown as being two in number and arranged at the upper and lower ends of the shaft. serving to tend to rock the shaft on its vertical axis. A shutter 22 is connected to the upper end of the shaft 20 and operates close to the inner surface of the upper end of the casing and parallel thereto. A similar shutter 23 is arranged upon the lower end of the shaft and operates in a horizontal'plane close to the bottom wall of the casing. 22- and 23 have the same relation'to the shaft 20 and are carried positively thereby into or out of position to close the slots 18 The shutters and 19 respectively. Any suitable means may be provided to hold the shutters 22 and 23 away from the slots against the tension of the springs 21. For this purpose I employ a pair of keepers 24: and 25 slidable upwardly and downwardly respectively into interlocking engagement with the upper and lower ends of the casing. Said keepers are arranged for simultaneous movement by being pivoted at 24. and 25 to a disk 26. The disk 26 is arranged in a plane closely parallel to the front wall 16 and is journaled on a horizontal axis 2? secured at its front end in the front Wall and at its rear end in a support 28 extending from the side wall of the casing- A. hub 29 is secured to the disk and extending radially from the hub is an arm 30. A strong spring 31 is shown coiled around the hub and has one end hooked at 31 around; the arm 30 and the other end of the spring bears at 31 against the casing wall or the aforesaid support. The spring 31 acting upon the arm 30 and hub tends to draw the keepers 24 and 25 inwardly or toward each other out of position preventing the closing of the shutters 22 and 23 under theforce of the springs 21. At 32 I show a fuse of any suitable comparatively easily ignitible substance but of sufficient strength to hold the arm 30 over toward the window 16 in normal position. The fuse, however, extends across the casing close to the film and above the window 16. The opposite end of the fuse is held conveniently by means of a hook 33 having a threaded shank projecting through the side wall of the casing and fitted with an adjustment nut 34.

The great danger of fire connected with a moving picture machine lies in the stoppage of the film for any reason with the direct rays of the projector acting upon it at one point, the point between the windows 16 and 17. Under ordinary circumstances the ignition of the film, which is of an inflam mable nature, causes the flame to spread dirreetly to either or both of the reels 11 and 12, and many times disastrous conflagrations result with loss of the building and even injuries due to panic or otherwise in the auditoriuin.

The window 16 is guarded by a shutter 35 held normally above the window by means of a'latch 36 acted upon by a spring 37 causing the point of the latch to engage in a 'hole or notch 35 adjacent the upper edge of the shutter. The upper end of the latch extends within the path of the shutter 22, and when the shutter 22 acts to close the slot 18,the' latch 36 is released from the shutter 35, allowing the shutter to close the window 16. A similar shutter 38 guards the rear window 17' and is held open normally by a latch 39 pivoted at its upper end at 4:0 to a fixed support. A finger 41 extends forwardly ina horizontal direction from the middle portion of thekeeper39 through a support 42 and-at its front end is upturned so as to be engaged by a downwardly projeeting lug 4:3 carried by the shutter 22 when the shutter. gees shut. A spring 44 surrnunds the finger 41 between the latch 39 and the support 42. All of these parts having immediate connection with the latch 39 are carriedhy the rear structure above referred to. The finger lie, however, swings well outwardly from the lug 43 when the door swings on its vertical hinge 17 Practically simultaneously, therefore, with the closing of the shutters 22 and 23, the latches 36 and 39 will be released from the downwardly movable shutters 35 and 38 respectively, and hence all four of the openings of the casing will be closed at the same time, confining the fire within the casing and immediately smothering the same. The only portion of the film which may be damaged by the fire, therefore, is within the casing and the fire may consume but a few inches thereof until it is smothered.

In the operation of setting the shutters, the operator being provided with fuses 32 will open the rear door of the casing, and after rocking or rotating the vertical shaft 20 by means of a thumb piece 20 or other suitable means, putting the springs 21 under tension, he will then reach into the casing and grasp the arm 30, drawing it inwardly,

' putting the spring 31 under tension and proecting the keepers 24 and 25 so as to lock the shutters 22 and 23 open. While the arm 30 is thus held, the operator will appl a fuse 32 thereto, as shown in Figs. 2 and 6, whereby the keepers will be held in looking position and the strong spring 31 will be held under tension. The shutters 35 and 38 may be shoved up into position to be engaged by their latches any time thereafter, and the device is ready for operation of the machine in the usual manner.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination with a moving picture apparatus including a film, of a fire protector associated with the film, said fire protector including a casing having vertical front and rear walls on opposite sides of the film and entrance and exit openings through which the film is adapted to pass through the casing, said walls having alined windows in the path of light, a pair of shutters held normally above the windows and adapted to drop and close the same, a

fuse extending transversely of the film just openings on opposite sides of the film in the path of light, a pair of shutters adjacent.

the windows, latches normally holding the shutterslopen,=a fuse located above the windows adjacent the film, automatically operating devices held inoperative normally by paratus including a movable film, of a fire protector for the film comprising a casing having slots at its upper and lower ends throughwhich the film is adapted to pass, a pair of shutters adjacent. the upper and lower ends of the casing, meanstending to' automatically, close the shutters, means normally'holding the shutters open against the force of the closing means,-andmeans to control the closing movement of the shut- .ters, the last mentioned means including a:

rotary disk to which the means are connected to hold the shutters open, a spring 5 tending to'rotate the disk lto withdraw the holding means, and a fuse located adjacent .the film and serving to hold the disk and the spring associated therewith under sion, substantially asset forth,

4. In a device of the character. set forth,

the combination of a casingbgaving slots in ten its upper and lower ends ough which a film 1s adapted to pass, a p ir of pivoted shutters associated with said upper and lower ends and movable in planes parallel thereto to close said slots, a pair of keepers movable upwardly and downwardly respectively into cooperation with the ends of the casing to normally hold the shutters open, a rotary member within \the casing to whichthe keepers are connected for simultaneous movement, a spring to cause the rotary member to act to withdraw the keepers, and

a fuse within the casing serving to normally. hold the rotary member from action' under the force of forth.

'. '5; In a fire protector for moving picture films, the combination of a casing including front and rear Walls having alinedwindows through which light may pass and a top and bottom having slots through which the film passes, shutters guarding the windows,-

latches cooperating with theshutters holding them normally open, shutters to close said slots, means serving to hold the slot shutters open, an' inflammable fuse, means 4 made operative through the burning of the fuse to cause the slot shutters to close, and I means operated directly by the slot shutters the spring, substantially as set' when closing to release the latches aforesaid.

6. Ina device of the character set forth,

the combination ofa casing adapted for cooperation with a moving picture film, said.

casing including front and rear wallshav- 'mg wmdows' and also including upper and lower ends having slots through which the film is adapted to pass, a pair of shuttersguarding the front and rear windows, latches normally holding said shutters open, another pair of shuttersguarding the slots, means tending to causethe latter mentioned shutters to swing shut in planesparallel to the :upper and lower ends of the casing, means causing the release of the latches aforesaid simultaneous with the closing of.

the slot shutters, means holding the slot 7 shutters open, a power devicetending to withdraw said holding means, and an inflammable fuse within the casing serving to normally resist said power means.

7. In a fire protector for moving. picture.

films, the combination of a casing having slots in its upper and lower ends through which the film is adapted to pass, a pairof shutters guarding said slots, a pair of keepers normally holding the shutters open, a

hub within the casing, means c'onnectingthe keepers to the hub, means within the casing tending to rotate the hub to withdraw the keepers, and means'normally resisting the rotation of the hub and made operative by the presence of fire Within the casing.

8. In a fire protector forv moving picture upper and lower ends provided with alined slots through which the film is adapted to pass, a pair of shutters guarding said slots,

-films, the combination of a casing having means tending to release the shutters to.

close the slots, a pair of keepers acting normally to hold the shutters open against the force of their closing means, a combined hub andidisk moimted to rotateiwithi n the casing, said keepers being connected to said disk for simultaneous movement, means acting upon the hub tending to rotate the same and the disk to withdraw the keepers from holding position, and means within the casing resisting the hub actuating means and made effective to allow the shutters to close by the effect of fire within the casing.

In testimony whereof I- have signed my namew to-this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

x ARTHUR LESTER CLEAYER.

, lVitnesses:

Gno. L. Bnmn, PHILIP D. ROLLHAUS. 

